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Developing an eye-catching resume is a challenge. It can be especially difficult if you’ve never written one before.

Many people, especially in blue-collar fields, find themselves in this situation. They have worked at the same company for many years. Now, they’re being laid off and forced to create a resume from scratch. It’s unfamiliar work, and, in some cases, they are applying for jobs in unfamiliar fields. They’re feeling uncertain.

If this is you, have no fear.

With some self-assessment and strategic thought about the type of job you’d like, you can translate your valuable experience onto paper.

The first step is figuring out what you’d like to do. This will affect decisions you make in crafting a resume. For instance, if you want a technology lab job, you may want to emphasize technical skills and familiarity with following processes. For a customer service position, it would be better to emphasize experiences in dealing with people.

If you are changing careers, the key is to understand your unique set of skills. Then, figure how they apply in other jobs. Your resume should reflect the job you want rather than the jobs you’ve had.

You may have been a construction worker for 20 years, but skills developed in that job can be transferred to many other environments. Working in teams, operating equipment and making quick mathematical computations are just a few competencies honed in construction.

To showcase your core skills, develop a career summary at the top of your resume. This brief statement should highlight your most relevant skills and the value that you could bring to the employer. This summary is especially useful if your employment has been varied and does not lend itself to one definitive career track.

In the following example, a recently laid-off assembly line worker aims for a restaurant manager position.

Example of career summaryTeam-oriented professional with 15 years of high-detail assembly line work. Experienced with working in groups, managing junior employees and maintaining strong morale in a fast-paced, high-stress environment. Proven track record of keeping teams on-task and producing high-quality output under tight deadlines.

Do you see how the example above emphasizes the skills required to work in a restaurant? This is why you’ll want to alter your career summary for each application, tailoring it to the requirements of the job.

Next, the bulk of your resume will be comprised of your work history. For each of your jobs, include your position title, name of the company, location and dates of employment.

Below each job, develop a bulleted list of job duties. Focus on transferable experiences. Instead of listing all of your tasks, pick those that would be most relevant to the prospective employer. Find areas of overlap between things you did at previous positions and things you would be required to do at a new job. Replace any company-specific jargon with terms that an outsider would understand.

If you’re having difficulty, take a step back from the specific details of your day-to-day duties and think in terms of broader skill clusters. Did you train employees? Innovate processes? Practice customer service? By doing some research into the job you’d like, you can determine which experiences should be emphasized.

Whenever possible, pepper your descriptions with numbers and concrete results that you achieved. Even if you had fairly straightforward job duties, describe the outcomes of your efforts. Improving sales by $2,000, increasing output by 15 percent and winning awards for performance are a few examples.

By including your achievements, you can show the hiring manager specific ways in which you made an impact at previous jobs. That allows the hiring manager to see how you can contribute to the organization.

Worked with a team of six line workers to assemble complex automotive parts.

Initiated new assembly procedure for a major component; improved efficiency and increased monthly line output by 20 percent.

Trained two junior employees; earned Outstanding Line Worker title in 2008.

If your work history is particularly wide-ranging, you might want to consider a functional resume. In this format, instead of detailing your responsibilities at each job, you can structure your resume around skill clusters. You may have headings such as “Communication Skills,” “Management Skills,” and “Customer Service Skills.”

In addition to work experience, your resume should feature an education section. This is an opportunity to showcase your professional certifications, vocational training and formal education. If you are in a field that requires certification, make sure that yours is displayed prominently.

Finally, pay attention to details throughout your resume. Misspelled words and poor grammar distract a reader’s attention from the content. They will cost you a job. Use spell check. Ask family members to read the resume for errors.

The benefits of writing a resume for an application are many. With the number of applications that employers receive for job openings, a strong resume can help you stand out.